On Pekarska Street there is a so-called “flat” building with a sharp corner facing passers-by. There are only a few of these types of buildings in Lviv.  The building is actually triangular in shape, and at a certain angle, the back side of the building is hidden, giving the illusion that the building is flat.

This establishment was known for its entertaining pianist, who would play the song “The Albatross Five” every day at the public’s request.

Lviv’s close proximity to the Polish border attracted smugglers to the city from all over the USSR.  This was THE place where currency could be exchanged, jeans could be bought, and where everyone was being hunted down or chased after by "serious people". In the beer restaurant ‘Under the Tower’ one could earn either a cool million or some serious jail time.

The problem is not that you have a million dollars and a bag of sparkling diamonds lying on your commode; the problem is that you’re living in the USSR in the 1970’s-80’s with this million without any chance of being able to spend it on yourself. Every evening you go to work, climbing up the spiral staircase to the top floor of the restaurant, known in Lviv as “Vezha” (Tower). Visitors kiss your dainty hands while showering you with compliments, and every evening they place those awful, colorful pieces of paper called money into your hands. You even like how, as one of them kisses your hand, he calls you Sonya the Diamond Hand, and Lady of the Park, Queen of the Tower, Fairy of the Knightly City...